You can migrate a Web server from supporting an earlier version
of WebSphere Application Server to support the current version.
About this task
The plug-in configuration
file (plugin-cfg.xml) generated after successful migration
from Version 5.x to Version 6.0.x is topology centric—that is, it includes
all the applications within a cell. You cannot manage this cell-wide plug-in
configuration file from the Version 6.0.x administrative console. It can be
managed using the GenPluginCfg command or by using
the Plug-in Config Generator MBean.
Be aware
that regenerating the plug-in configuration can overwrite manual configuration
changes that you might want to preserve.
The
application-centric generation of the plugin-cfg.xml file
is supported using the Version 6.x administrative console. Being application
centric means that the plugin-cfg.xml file generated in the administration
console has a granularity that allows each application to be mapped to its
specific Web or application server.
To set up
the administrative console so that you can use it to manage the Web server
plug-in configuration, you must first create a default Web server configuration
and then use the administrative console to add the plug-in properties from
your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file to this Web server
configuration.
Procedure
To create a default Web server
configuration and then add the plug-in properties from your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file
in a Network Deployment configuration, use the Version 6.x administrative
console to perform the following tasks:
- Create a default Web server configuration.
- Add the plug-in properties from your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file
to this Web server configuration.
To create a default Web server
configuration and then add the plug-in properties from your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file
in a standalone application server configuration, perform the following tasks:
- Create a default Web server configuration in the standalone application
server by running the BBOWCFGW job from the migration JCL library produced
by the Customization Dialog.
- Before submitting the job, customize it according to the instructions
in the comments at the start of the job.
- Run the job under the WebSphere Application Server administrator user
ID.
- Use the administrative console to edit the configuration and define the
plug-in properties.
Install the IBM HTTP Server Version
6.x and its plug-in or a plug-in for another supported Web server. Install
the HTTP Server and its plug-in on a different machine with the following
procedure:
- Insert the product disk into the machine.
- Close the launchpad if it starts automatically.
- Change directories to the IHS directory on the product
disk.
- Install the IBM HTTP Server.
This script installs the plug-in that you need and makes the necessary
configuration changes for the supported Web server.
IBM HTTP Server Version 6.0 can coexist
with earlier versions, or you can upgrade earlier versions to Version 6.0.
Upgrading relieves you from having to uninstall and reinstall the HTTP server.
Install Version 6.0 into the same directory structure as the earlier version
to upgrade that version. If you install the HTTP Server into a different directory,
Version 6.0 coexists with the previous version. By default, the administration
server and the Web Server use the same ports as the previous version, which
causes a conflict. However, you can change the port assignments on the port
assignment panel of the WebSphere Application Server Installation wizard or
the Profile creation wizard.
- Change the port number assignments for the new installation if you install
into a separate directory. You can change port numbers on the coexistence
panel. You can back track through the Installation wizard and change the port
settings if you have not already done so. Or, you can change the port settings
after installation in the httpd.conf file in the HTTP
Server directory.
- Update the IBM HTTP Server httpd.conf configuration
entries to remove entries for earlier WebSphere Application Server versions
if you install into the same directory as an earlier version.
Versions
4.0.x, 5.x, and 6.0.x of WebSphere Application Server use the same HTTP transport
plug-in binary module. If the Web server configuration file contains WebSphere
Application Server Version 4.0.x or 5.x plug-in information, you must manually
remove it. Otherwise, when the HTTP Server attempts to start the second Version
6.0.x plug-in binary module, there is an error. The error indicates that the
module is already loaded.
The configuration file
might contain duplicate entries for accessing WebSphere Application Server
samples. Remove any aliases for previous versions and retain the Version 6.0.x
entries:
Version 4.0.x installations:
Alias /IBMWebAS/ "C:\WebSphere\AppServer40\web\"
Alias /WSsamples "C:\WebSphere\AppServer40\WSsamples\"
Version 5.x installation:
Alias /WSsamples "c:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer\WSsamples"
Alias /IBMWebAS/ "c:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer\web\"
Version 6.0.x installation:
Alias /WSsamples "c:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer\WSsamples"
Alias /IBMWebAS/ "c:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer\web\"
Migrate plug-ins
to work with WebSphere Application Server Version 6.0.x. Starting
with WebSphere Application Server Version 6.0, the following are true:
- Web servers can be represented in the administrative console.
- The Web server plug-in configuration file (plugin-cfg.xml)
is associated with every Web server definition instead of one cell-wide plug-in
configuration file.
- The settings in the generated plug-in configuration file are based on
the list of applications that are deployed on the hosting Web server.
Use the following steps to generate a Web server plug-in configuration
file that is based on topology. This method was used for generated plug-in
configuration files in previous releases.
- Use the GenPluginCfg command to generate
the plug-in configuration file.
- Manually propagate the generated plug-in configuration file
from the machine on which the WebSphere Application Server resides to the
remote Web server.
- Use the Plug-ins installation wizard to configure the Web server.
Instead of using the default plug-in configuration file location, specify
the new location of the plug-in configuration file that was propagated in
the previous step.
You should migrate to the application-centric approach that uses
the Plug-ins installation wizard. The Plug-ins installation wizard generates
scripts that can be used to create the Web server definition for that Web
server and to map all of the applications that are currently deployed to the
newly created Web server definition.
What to do next
The plug-in configuration
file (plugin-cfg.xml) generated after successful migration
from Version 5.x to Version 6.0.x is topology centric—that is, it includes
all the applications within a cell. You cannot manage this cell-wide plug-in
configuration file from the Version 6.0.x administrative console. It can be
managed using the GenPluginCfg command or by using
the Plug-in Config Generator MBean.
Be aware
that regenerating the plug-in configuration can overwrite manual configuration
changes that you might want to preserve.
The
application-centric generation of the plugin-cfg.xml file
is supported using the Version 6.x administrative console. Being application
centric means that the plugin-cfg.xml file generated
in the administration console has a granularity that allows each application
to be mapped to its specific Web or application server.
To
set up the administrative console so that you can use it to manage the Web
server plug-in configuration, you must first create a default Web server configuration
and then use the administrative console to add the plug-in properties from
your migrated
plugin-cfg.xml file to this Web server
configuration.
- To create
a default Web server configuration and then add the plug-in properties from
your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file in a Network Deployment
configuration, use the Version 6.x administrative console to perform the following
tasks:
- Create a default Web server configuration.
- Add the plug-in properties from your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file
to this Web server configuration.
- To create a default Web server configuration and then add the plug-in
properties from your migrated plugin-cfg.xml file in
a standalone application server configuration, perform the following tasks:
- Use the Version 6.x Plug-ins installation wizard
to create a default Web server configuration.
- Use the Version 6.x administrative console to edit the configuration and
define the plug-in properties.